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Manually Deleting Old Backups via ATI 2016

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I'm wanting to manually delete old backup versions and have found this info in the manual, but can't seem to find the correct "buttons" in the TI 2016 Interface.

"To delete a specific backup version:

  1. Start your computer by using bootable media. Refer to Arranging boot order in BIOS for details.
  2. In the Recovery section, click Refresh backups. This will update the backup list. If you cannot find the target backup in the list, or the backup is located on removable media, click Browse for backup, and provide the path to the backup.
  3. Depending on type of the backup, go to the Disk backups or File backups tab.
  4. Right-click the backup version that you want to delete, and then click Remove. The opened window displays the list of backup versions that will be deleted. See below why this list may contain more than one backup version.
  5. To confirm the deletion, click Delete."

I believe this So is this information old?  Begins with "using bootable media" - does this imply I can't do a normal boot, but have to boot from CD or USB in order to delete old backups?

Where is "refresh Backups" in the "Recovery Section"? None of the main sections are labeled "Recovery".  If I go into the Backup Section on top, and click Recover Disks, is that the "recovery section"?  There's no refresh backups button I can see. Also, in this version, I can no longer find the "browse for backups" command.   There is a drop-down menu that lists backup versions, but they're Just associated with "disks" or "files" but don't name which disk a backup is referring to. (I backup system disks and storage disks).

I'd really appreciate some updated instructions for this.  Thanks.   

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David, the recommended method of managing backup files is to use the auto cleanup rules in your task settings, i.e. using the option to Store no more than X version chains.

However, if you have already created a lot of backups without using auto cleanup, then you can delete whole version chains manually using Windows Explorer, but after doing so, you must run a Validation of your backup tasks in order to reconcile the Acronis Database with the actual backup files that the application does or does not find.  Validation will produce messages for any missing / deleted files that you should take the option to Ignore.

Note: a whole version chain = a full backup file plus all associated incremental or differential files.

When using auto cleanup rules, old version chains are only removed after a new full backup for the next version chain has been successfully created.

Thanks for the fast response, Steve.  Yes, I normally use autocleanup to remove old versions, but somehow, one of my disk backup schemes went from Full, keep no more than 2 old versions to Incremental, with no auto delete.  Probably my error.  I know I can delete and re-add the whole thing, which is what I did. 

If I'm understanding you correctly, ATI 2016 no longer has the option to manually delete old individual backup archives from within ATI?  Your approach seems like a useable workaround.  If that's true, then updating the documentation would be very helpful.  Wrong directions are worse than none imo.

David, your understanding is correct in that there is no direct method of deleting old individual backup archives from within the ATIH GUI - that is, if you are intending to keep the same backup task that created them.

One option that you do have is to Clone the task settings which will create a duplicate task with a prefix of (1) before the task name, that would allow you to start the task with a fresh destination folder then use the delete function to remove the settings for the original task.  Once you have removed those settings, you can manually delete any backups that were associated with that original task via Windows Explorer without any further actions being needed.

As far as updating documentation, I would recommend submitting Feedback via the GUI Help page to suggest this to Acronis.  This is just a user forum and we are both users, so I have no direct influence on the Acronis developers.